Am I the only white person in the world who remembers Pancho Claus? He was a Mexican lowrider-Santa-Claus-fella in Houston who showed up everywhere when I was a kid. When my family moved to Minnesota, I was shocked and appalled that people there had never heard of him.There was at least one TV special featuring Pancho Claus bringing toys to all the cool girls and boys. His elves were a mix of Pachucos and cholos and at some point there was a mariachi band*. Most of Pancho Claus' actions involved standing at an angle and flipping a silver dollar. I remember, also, that at some point a kid laments that he will not see Pancho Claus because his family's house doesn't have a chimney.
"I don't use chimneys," says Pancho Claus. "I'm not getting this suit dirty."
Apparently he's still around, but I couldn't find anything about him on Wikipedia. Every minor Star Trek character to get 15 seconds of screen time is documented, but Pancho Claus gets nothing. There's something inherently wrong about that.
*Not really related to this, but not worth putting into a post of its own, my all-time favourite use of a mariachi band came when Michael Moore's short-lived "TV Nation" sent one to drown out a KKK rally.
7 comments:
(Add Pancho Claus to the list of things that my Minnesota friends probably thought I was making up but are, surprisingly, true)
Not to mention your Irish friends, your Welsh friends...etc, etc.
You're allowed to post your own entries, you know. That's how Wikipedia works ;-)
If it's on Wiki it must be true.
Wait.. you said it WASN'T on Wiki?
Yeah, I agree with nic, why haven't you posted about it on wikipedia?
...Hello Chris, it was very kind of you to remember me. The rest of the
year I work with at risk kids. You can find me at panchoclaus.com
IT WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
AND ALL THROUGH THE CASA
NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING,
HEY VATO, QUE PASA !
Chris,
I know how you feel, man. I'm African American, and I grew up with Pancho Claus too. Then I moved out of state, and only my Latino friends knew of him. Vivo El Primero Carnale de la raza.
Post a Comment